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THE 


IRON INDUSTRIES 


OF 


IRONTON, 


^ AND the: 


HANGING HOCK IRON REGION 


OF OHIO. 

'x'- "* 

COMPILED BY A. LAWSON, 

, E^OR THE 

' f 

RONTON ^OAtiD OF TraDE, 

CORRESPONDENCE SOLICITED. 




fi. p. "^ILSON, ^ECRETARY, 


C 1 X C I X X ATI: 

BLOCH A CO., PUrXTERS, IfJu WL.^T Kol'TTH STREET. 

1871 . 







GEO. N. GRAY. 
W. C. AMOS. 

T. A. DEMPSEY. 




U. L. AMOS. 
O. LYONS. 







ittYltt. 

GRAY, AMOS & CO., 




D 


Mamtfacturers of Superior 

W? 


we^ Em%m 


9 


SUITABLE , FOB CAB WHEELS, CHILL BOLLS, PLOWS, 
HEAVY MAOHINEBY, &c., Sse. 

P. Q), 

C3-E?.^IDES. 

No. I chills ^ inch in bar, 1x1. 

No. 2 chills \ inch in bar, 1x1. 

No. 3 chills ^ inch in bar, 1x1. 

Mottled. 

White. 


a 


; 


GRADES. ^ 

No. 0—0 chill. 

“ 1 —^ inch 

.2l 

4 

“ 4—Mottled. 


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a 0_4 a 


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f; 


5—White. 


llilVI I Nl lINVV «VI 

Lawrence Fnrnace Co. 




Manufacturers of 


POST OFFICE, 

IRONTON,. 0. 



\R 0 if. 


This Iron is made exclusively for the U.se of Car Wheel Manufacturers, Its 
superiority consists in its strength and chilling qualities. Kailroad Companies 
will find it to their interest to order this iron u.sed in their car wheels. 

SA.TISFA.CTIOISr C3-IXA.X^^I^^TEEID. 
ADDRESS: ' 

I«to 3Pelers» Cirejsideffit, 

IRONTON, OHIO. 

ADDY, HULL A CO., Agents, Cincinnati, 0. 


I 


























THE 


HANGING ROCK IRON REGION. 


This is generally understood as embracing a large portion of south eastern 
Ohio and north-eastern Kentucky, in fact, all of the ore-producing territory in 
those limits. In that light, it covers a belt of about twelve miles in width, and 
perhaps fifty miles in length north of the Ohio river, and thirty below it; though 
this belt of ore runs northward into northern Ohio, and south into Tennessee, 
where it is known as the Chattanooga Iron District, changing its name with the 
locality. The name originated as follows : In the decade of 1830 and 1840, the 
excellent qualities of iron shipped from the village of Hanging Rock in 
Lawrence County, Ohio, and made at the furnaces in that vicinity, attracted the 
attention of iron manufacturers in Pittsburg and other markets, and it became 
known very favorably as “Hanging Rock Iron,” from the name of its shipping 
port. Gradually, the name was extended to cover the product of the entire re¬ 
gion first mentioned ; but, in the following pages, it is proposed to treat only of 
that region to which the name was first applied, and embracing a scope of coun¬ 
try within a radius of about twenty miles from the original center of Hanging 
Rock, or, now more properly speaking, the city of Ironton, immediately adja¬ 
cent to the first named, but the business center of all treated of. Within this 
scope are collected twenty-five blast furnaces, producing all the known grades of 
iron, some of which have no known superior elsewhere; large rolling and nail 
mills, foundries and machine shops, the aggregate of whose products amounts to 
a value of millions yearly, as will be spoken of more in detail farther on. In 
it is the city of Ironton, and the townsof Hanging Rock, Ashland and Greenup'- 
burg, which, with the surrounding country, contain a population of about 
40,000, which is nearly all dependent upon, and supported by, the iron industry. 
Here are collected closely together a vast amount of the best ores, immense de¬ 
posits of the finest coals, beds of the finest fire and other clays, molding sand, 
and exhaustless quantities of limestones and sandstones, in a region, the greater 
part naturally thin and inclined to sterility, but with huge hills covered with 
extensive forests of fine timber, and cut up by numerous well Avatered ravines, 
affording splendid opportunities for access to the minerals in them—the whole 
forming such a combination of mineral Avealth and natural advantages for the 
production of iron in its best forms, as it is belicA^ed is found noAvhere else in the 
same limits in the United States. 

The region now spoken of is pretty equally divided by the Ohio river, though 
the characteristics are very much the same in both sections, the chief difference 
being, that in Ohio there has been a greater development of resources very sim¬ 
ilar to tliose in Kentucky. 




2 


THE IKON INDUSTRIES 


ORES. 

The western line^of the iron belt proper, begins some six miles below Ironton, 
near Union Landing—though furnaces were once built below and west of that 
line—the eastern limit is above and near Petersburg, opposite Ashland, about 
four miles above Ironton. Preserving the same relative distances nearly between 
its outside limits, this belt runs northerly with a slight inclination to the east. 
The dip of its strata is to the east with a slight deviation to the south, and these 
directions are pretty generally uniform through this entire region. Tliroughout 
tlie whole of it are found two strata of ore; the first, appearing in the summit of 
the hills along the western limit, and known os the “block” variety, a homogen¬ 
eous ore, which takes its name from the block form in which it quarries. Tliis 
yields from 25 to 40 per cent, of iron, and runs in a ledge of from 4 inches, in 
exceptional cases, to as high as thirty inches in thickness. Lying above this at 
a distance of from thirty to seventy-five feet, and immediately over a stratum of 
limestone, is what is termed the limestone ore; this yields from 30 to 60 per 
cent, of iron, and ranges in thickness from eight inches to as high as three, five, 
and ill one instance as high as seven feet. But probably, the nearest average 
would be ten inches for the block, and twelve for the limestone ore. These are 
the two general species of ores in this section. There are different varieties of 
these in different localities, which impart peculiar qualities to the iron; but 
tliere are only the two before-mentioned distinct species. Frequently, as at I^aw- 
rence furnace, there are found immediately above the limestone ore, irregularly 
appearing masses of ore, known as “kidneys” from their shape, which are from 
the weight of half a ton down to a piece weighing a pound only. And again, in 
tlie tops of the hills are found layers of “kidneys”, known as “top hill ore,” which 
makes an excellent iron, and both of which are classed as limestone ores. In 
different localities these strata are subdivided, and appear in more subdivisions, 
but still the characteristics are very much the same. The dip is from 25 to 30 
feet to the mile. The hills being from 200 to 300 feet in bight, it follows that 
each of these strata will disappear below the surface at a distance of from eight 
to ten miles east from its first appearance on the summit of the hills. 

With some exceptions at Ilecla Furnace, not a ton of ore has yet been mined 
in this section, by shafting as is frequently done in England, although, when 
once these rich ore beds in the hills become difficult of access, there will, un¬ 
doubtedly, be opened up by that method an exceedingly rich region beyond 
the eastern line of this belt, where these different strata will be found in ex¬ 
haustless quantities below the entire surface of the country, though that conting¬ 
ency is too many thousands of years away to materially interest the present gen¬ 
eration. 


COAL. 

The coal found here lies in several seams, of which there are but three or four 
workable with the present supply and demand. At the works of Means, Kyle, 
&Co., of Hanging Rock, is worked a seam of from three to four feet in thickness. 
Back of Ironton, in the river hills, are worked the same veins for city domestic 
consumption ; and back of the city some seven miles on the Iron R. R. is pro¬ 
cured the coal required for the use of the several rolling mills of the city. At 
Sheridan, seven miles above is worked another, but similar vein, which is fur¬ 
nished principally to steamboats,’ and for domestic consumption. Throughout 
all this region are to be found these veins of coal,lying in accessible positions, 
but awaiting development; for, except at the points named, there has been but 
sufficient “pecking at” the outside edges of these coal deposits to supply neigh¬ 
borhood wants. All these are excellent coals, suitable for rolling mill purposes, 
but unsuited to the smelting of iron, from the presence of sulphur. There is 
found at Jackson C. II. some fifty or more miles north, a vein of coal which is 
well suited for that purpose, and is so used in the furnaces at that point. 


OF IROKTON. 


3 


At Coalton, back of Ashland, in Kentucky, lie immense deposits of coal, 
which are remarkably free from sulphur, and it is used in the furnaces at Ash¬ 
land and Ironton very successfully. At the site of Oak Ridge furnace, 10 miles 
east of Lawrence furnace and two miles from Sy mines, Creek, in Lawrence county, 
is a vein of coal seven feet in thickness, which is reported to be very pure. 
Whether this is identical with the Coalton vein is not yet known, though it prob¬ 
ably is not. As yet, it lies awaiting development, being quite inaccessible at 
present. 


OTHER MINERALS. 

Within this belt are found vast deposits of fire and potter’s clay, molding .sand 
burr, lime and sand stones, suitable for building and other purposes. Great 

?[uantities of fire brick are made at Petersburg, opposite Ashland, at Bellefonte, 
urnace, nearly opposite, by Means & Russell, and several other points in this 
region, and used in the several manufactories of this locality, and for exporta¬ 
tion. Molding sand of the best quality, adapted to making the finest castings, is 
found near the river in quantities inexhaustible, and costing, practically, 
nothing. Every furnace possesses quantities of sand stone, adapted for its own 
•tacks and hearths, and, from the lands of Franklin jr., furnace, this rock is ex¬ 
ported to Tennessee, for cupolas and furnace hearths. Five miles above Ironton 
is found a ledge of rock believed to be well adapted, to the manufacture of flint 
glass, but which has never been experimented for that purpose. A fine deposit 
of this is said to exist in Carter County, Ky., on the line of the Eastern Ken¬ 
tucky R. R., not more than thirty miles from Ironton. Salt was supplied to the 
whole of interiorKentucky, forty years ago, from the salt wells on Little Sandy 
river, near Grayson, some twenty-five miles from Ironton. The opening of 
richer veins caused that to diminish its business, though along that stream are 
many places "where the manufacture of salt could be made very profitable. At 
Star furnace, at the terminus of the L. & B. S. R. R., eighteen miles from Ash¬ 
land, Ky., the Messrs. Lampton Bros., in boring for a supply of water for their 
furnace, in 1870, struck salt veins at the respective depths of 200 and 420 feet, 
which proved quite strong, but nothing was done towards developing it, though 
there is no doubt, the working of it would prove very profitable. Ko attempt 
has ever been made toward erecting salt manufactories in this region, but, with 
the vast quantities of coal in the hills, when the country is properly opened up 
by railroads, it would certainly become a valuable industry. 

The supply of 


CHARCOAL 

is one of the most important adjuncts of iron-making, since in general the ores 
will go to the fuel, instead of the reverse. Here, the entire surface of the coun¬ 
try was, in the beginning of the iron manufacture, covered with dense forests of 
oak, beech, ash, hickory, maple, yellow pine, poplar, and walnut timber, the 
ravines afforded an abundance of water for the manufacture of charcoal from 
the timber on their sides, and charcoal was the cheapest, as it is by far the best 
fuel for smelting purposes. 

So that in this part of the West there were 


ALL THE MATERIALS FOR IRON MAKING 

on the spot, indeed seldom are they collected so compactly as they are here 
ound. The hills were rich store-houses where were laid up vast quantities 
of the richest and best qualities of ores, of different varieties, all exposed advan¬ 
tageously to the miner by the numerous ravines that cut the face of the country 
in every direction; interspersed w’ith the ore strata were deposits of coal, fire clay 


4 


THE IRON INDUSTRIES 


and sand stone. Here the furnaceinan could build his furnace hearth and stack 
from stone on his own land, make his own fire-brick, cut and char his own 
wood, dig his own ore, and quarry his own limestone; and, with the addition 
of a little machinery imported from Pittsburg or Cincinnati, set his “blast” in 
operation, and tap the molten metal into the pig beds, where it cooled i)re- 
paratory to being liauled to the nearest landing on the Ohio, for shipment to 
market. Except that the natural thinness of the soil, the newness of the region, 
and the fact that he himself held vast quantities of land away from the farmer, 
obliged him to draw largely on more favored agricultural regions for supplies 
of provisions for his men and teams, he found every thing he required, tor the 
successful and profitable prosecution of his business on the spot. Consequently, 
it is no wonder that we have to record the following 


HISTORY OF IRON MAKING 


in the Hanging Rock District. 

The first furnace in Ohio was built in 1811, on Brush Creek, in Adams County, 
some seventeen miles from the Ohio river. As might be expected, it was of the 
rudest construction. The stones for its hearth were brought from near Beaver, 
Pa. The machinery for blowing the blast was driven by water; the yield was 
about one ton daily of cold-blast charcoal iron. The first furnace with blast 
driven by steam in the United States, was built in 1819, in Adams County, Ohio. 
Here the ore lay in “nests” of the “kidney” varieties, and notin regular strata, 
and the deposits were long since exhausted, and the furnaces abandoned. 

The discovery of ores in the Hanging Rock region, naturally drew the atten¬ 
tion of the Adams County furnace-men, and they were the first to erect furnaces 
here. Messrs Sparks, Means & Fair, built the first in 1826. It was called 
Union Furnace, and Avas built between the present location of Ohio and Pine 
Grove furnaces, some four miles from the Ohio river, and about the same dis¬ 
tance from the site of the after village of Hanging Rock. This went into blast 
in the year 1827, and the first fire in it was lit by Mr. T. W. Means, the senior 
member of the wealthy firm of Means, Kyle & Co., of Hanging Rock. This 
produced but a ton daily, of cold bla.st charcoal iron, but the experience of the 
managers raised the production to two and a half tons daily, which was considered 
as doing very well. (When a feAv years later, the managers of Lawrence furnace 
aimed to produce a thou.sand tons yearly, it was regarded as something unparal¬ 
lelled!) As the country became better known, other furnaces. La Grange, 
Vesuvius, Ilecla, Lawrence, Mt. Vernon, Franklin, and others, were built and 
operated, and the character of their iron became known in the markets as among 
the best. At those days, (nearly forty years since,) the blast Avas always blown 
of cold air, and sometimes introduced through holloAv gum logs placed back 
from the tuyere opening out of danger of fire from the interior. Wages were 
exceedingly low, Avood Avas cut for 25 cents per cord, corn cost 12} cents per 
bushel, hay only brouglit $4.00 and $5.00 per ton, and AAdiisky was" the almost 
neces.sary adjunct to every bargain and contract. The old books kept at the 
early furnaces often showing entries such as “John Smith contracts to make one 
hundred rods of road for $25.00, and tAvo gallons whisky.” At that period it 
AA’as the object of the furnace men to manufacture into castings as much as pos¬ 
sible the products of the furnace, and salt kettles, kitchen utensils, and other 
castings and moldings were made during the Aveek, and pig iron run on Sunday. 
The fir.st stoves for burning coal made in this section were cast at Pine Grove 
furnace. Forges Avere erected in different places, Avhich Avere run by water 
power, and hammered, instead of rolling the iron into merchant bar. A nail 
factory was set up at M.ysville about 1820, and the nails Avere bought at $20.00 
per keg. Now such nails as it made could be sold for scrap iron only. 

As before stated, the first iron produced Avas by cold blast, and there is no iron 
otherwise made, Avhich is so pure, has so great tenacity, or so great durabilitv of 
Avearing surface. Of later years the introduction of the hot blast increased" the 
yield, but the quality of the iron was in some respects changed. 


OF lEONTON 


O 


There are now within a radius of twenty miles from Ironton, the following 
furnaces with their yearly production in round numbers as nearly as may be: 


Monitor. 

Cold blast. 

Fuel. 

Yearly Produc¬ 
tion. 

Shipping from 

Charcoal. 

9. .^(K) t.nn.fii 

Petersburg. 

Hanging Hock. 

4 4 4 4 

Ironton, 

44 

44 

4 4 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

44 

4 4 

Ohio. 

Hot “ . 

4 4 

a, 000 “ 

Pine Grove. 

H it 

44 

3,000 “ . 

Hecla. 

Cold “ . 

44 

2,.500 “ . 

Lawrence. 

(< (( 

4 4 

2,500 “ . 

Vesuvius. 

Warm “ . 

4 4 

2,500 “ . 

Center . 

Hot “ .. 

44 

3,000 “ . 

Grant.... . 

(< C< 

4 4 

2,500 “ . 

Olive. 

(4 44 

44 

3,000 “ . 

Buckhorn. 

4 4 4 4 

4 4 

3,000 “ . 

Howard. 

4 4 4 4 

44 

3,000 “ . 

5It. Vernon. 

44 4 4 

44 

3,500 “ . 

Etna. 

4 4 4 4 

4 4 

3,000 “ . 

Belfont. 

4 4 44 

Stone coal.._. 

7..500 “ . 



1 ’ 


IN KENTUCKY. 


Ashland . 

Hot blast 

Fuel. 

Yearly Produc¬ 
tion. 

Shipping from 

Stone coal. 

12,000 tons.'.. 

Ashland. 

44- 

44 

4 4 

Landing. 

44 

44 

44 

41 

44 

44 

Star. 

4 4 4 4 

44 

3,500 “ . 

Mt. Savage. 

4 4 4 4 

Charcoal. 

3,000 “ . 

Buena Vista. 

4 4 4 4 

44 

3,5C0 “ . 

T^pllpfrmt.p.. 

4 4 4 4 

44 

3,000 “ . 

Buffalo. 

4 4 4 4 

44 

2,000 “ . 


44 4 4 

44 

2,500 “ . 

Pftnn.qylvfl nin . 

4 4 4 4 

44 

2.500 “ . 

T.niirpl . 

41 44 

44 

o 
^ o 
o 

r oi 

Raccoon . 

Cold “ . 

4 4 

2,000 “ . 

Boone. 

Hot “ . 

4 4 

2,000 “ . 






Showing an aggregate production yearly of 82.500 tons of iron, Avhich, at the 
market rate of $33 per ton, amounts to $2,722 500. Of this 30,000 tons, worth 
$1,188 000, pass through Ironton, and are shipped from her wharf 





































































































































6 ' 


THE IRON INDUSTRIES 


THE QUALITY OF IRON 


produced has long been noted for its excellent qualities, and is much sought 
after for special purposes. From twelve experiments made with hammered bars 
the tension of the best Juniata iron was found to be from 70,000 to 75,000 lbs. 
to the square inch. Salisbury iron from 75,000 to 78,000, and of Hanging Rock 
iron from 87,000 to 91,000 lbs. per square inch. Car wheels made from Hanging 
Rock cold-blast iron sell readily at $25,00 each, when those made from the best 
Pennsylvania iron will command $19, only. Manufacturers in Cincinnati, 
Louisville, St. Louis, Columbus, Pittsburg, Buffalo and Troy, seek eagerly for, 
and pay high prices to obtain this, as the best article the market affords. Its 
closeness of texture, firmness, strength and length of fibre, fit it especially for the 
making of heavy machinery where it will have to undergo the severest strains, 
and render it capable of being worked into the finest and best of steel. 

Those kijids of iron made here, adapted for foundry purposes are remarkably 
fluid when melted, and are thus fitted to take the finest impressions and make 
the most beautiful castings. They are largely used in the foundries of Ironton, 
Cincinnati, Louisville, Pittsburg and Wheeling. 


THE SUPPI.Y OF ORE 


has as yet been scarcely touched upon by the furnaces hitherto established. Beds 
of ore are frequently discovered on lands which were thought to have been ex¬ 
hausted. If we estimate that one fourth of the surface is underlaid with ore to 
the thickness of ten inches, which is certainly moderate, we then have in the 
belt of ten miles in width, and twenty miles, both north and south, from Ironton, 
an area of one hundred square miles or 64,000 acres, of ore-bearing territoiy. 
At the computation of 2,800 tons of ore per acre, as given by furnace men for 
that thickness, this would yield a supply sufficient for the existing furnaces of 
the region at their present rate of consumption for the next eight hundred and 
fifty years! Professor Briggs in his Geological Report of Ohio, in 1838, page 93, 
says: “The iron region, from the Ohio river, near Franklin furnace, north¬ 
ward by Jackson, to the Hocking river, occupies an area equal to an unbroKen 
stratum fifty miles long, and six miles wide, capable of yielding 3,000,000 tons 
of good iron ore to each square mile, and that the quantity of ore is so great 
that Jackson, Lawrence, and Scioto counties are capable of producing 400 000 
tons of iron annually for 2,700 years.” A statement much in advance of that 
just made, but by one who had competent data to judge from. 

To aid in smelting this vast amount of ore, limestone of the best quality is 
always to be had, as cheaply obtained as any where in the world. Charcoal has 
been, and is now, the principal fuel used. But the vast forests supplying it have 
melted gradually away before the ax of the furnace men, and already the sup¬ 
ply is becoming a matter of serious thought in localities. Each furnace will 
consume on an average from 12,000 to 15,000 cords of wood yearly. This im¬ 
mense consumption is slowly replaced by the “second growth” of timber, at the 
rate of about two cords per acre yearly. In the case of furnaces owning large 
tracts of land there will be some which can continue their operations with char¬ 
coal fuel indefinitely. But with many, in the course of the next fifteen years, 
they must be seriously cramped, unless they should draw their supplies' from 
tlie extensive forests in Eastern Kentucky, and West Virginia, which of course 
would largely increase the cost of production. But cold-blast charcoal iron 
from this region will probably never be excelled in quality, and will find a 
sufficient demand for all that can be supplied, even at a large advance from it’s 
present cost. In this light the 


OF IRONTON. 


7 


MANUFACTURE OF IRON IN THE FUTURE, 

it is plain, must largely depend upon some other fuel. And now is seen the 
value of the Coalton vein of coal as evidenced by the experiments of the Ash¬ 
land and Belfont furnaces. In the country adjacent to Coalton this deposit is 
found in vast quantities sufficient for the wants of this region for hundreds of 
years to come. This can be delivered at any point along the river at a price 
which will enable it to be used at a t)rofit in the smelling furnace, and in any 
desired quantity. At Jackson, Ohio, is another deposit equally as good for 
smelting purposes. To bring this to the river at fronton profitably, would re¬ 
quire an extension of the present, or the building of another line of R. R. 
northward. The connection of such a line with Columbus, would open up a 
vast amount of business in this section of country. Besides enabling the coal 
above spoken of to be brought here, it would afford a passage for an immense 
quantity of lake ores from the North to be brought here to mix with our native 
ores, as is now done with Missouri ore, the supply of which is precarious, from 
the heavy drafts made upon it and the fact that it must now be delivered by a 
river, which in certain seasons can not be depended upon. Whether the seven foot 
seam of coal fonnd at Oak Ridge as heretofore stated, is sufficiently pure for pur¬ 
poses of smelting, is yet to be ascertained. Should such be the case it would 
afford a supply sufficient lor the most extravagant estimate. But the desidera¬ 
tum needed is a method of using the native coal in the blast furnace, as attempted 
by Mr. Peters a short time since, elsewhere referred to. This found, and fur¬ 
naces will become as plentiful as the facilities for transporting their supplies and 
j)roducts, to and from their sites, will allow. It is a remarkable fact that “fur¬ 
nace men know less of their busine.ss, really, than any other class of manufac¬ 
turers in the United States.” By which is meant that the chemical laws govern¬ 
ing the production of iron, and the chemical solution of its various problems 
are unknown, in general, to the very men who would most be profited thereby. 
Inquiry substantiates the as.sertion. During the past generation they have in¬ 
creased the production of their furnaces, but not improved materially the pro¬ 
cess. Still, science, unaided by experience, seems not so well adapted/ to the 
proper working of an iron furnace, as experience alone. A notable in.stance 
occurred in the erection of Oak Ridge furnace, .some years since, by a wealthy 
company, guided by the theoretic knowledge of a gentleman of the highest 
scientific attainments, who pronounced the site to be among ores of extraordin¬ 
ary richness. The furnace made but one “blast,” and the money spent in its 
erection has long since been regarded as one of the most permanent investments. 
Still, when science and practice go hand in hand, with an intiniate acquaintance, 
we may look for the proper advance to be made. Already practical minds with 
a proper knowledge of chemistry are seeking the solution of the.se problems, 
and we may not be surprised at any day to hear of the discovery that our ores 
may be smelted by our native coals. The discovery of Mr. Charles Burgess in 
the manufacture of steel, seems to indicate that the thing is practicable. 


THE CITY OF IRONTON 

is situated on the north bank of the Ohio river, 145 miles above Cincinnati, 
ten below the junction of the Big Sandy river with that stream, in 883 ° north 
latitude, and 5 E west from Washington. The town was laid out in 1849, and 
was selected as the terminus of the Iron R. R. which was built for the trans¬ 
portation of iron and sui)plies to and from the furnaces lying back from the 
river. In 1851 it became the county seat of Lawrence county. In 18G5 it was 
incorporated as a city of the second class. The population in 1860 was 3,700. 
In 1870 it was 5,688, according to the Federal census. On the 1st of January, 
1871, according to an enumeration taken by authority and direction of the City 


8 


THE IRON INDUSTRIES 


Council, it was 6,883. The city is very pleasantly located on a wide stretch of 
,‘first” and “second bottom,” running back from the river half a mile to the 
hills that rise in the rear, four hundred feet above the level of the town. It is 
quite regularly laid out, with broad streets. During the war the growth of the 
place was very much checked. It was near the border of guerilla warfare, the 
iron industry was depressed, property was sold for a mere song, and the place 
stood still in growth. With the return of peace the price of property rose, and 
the natural advantages of its situation have caused a rapid and healthy growth. 
Now, there are but few places in this section of the United States so rapidly in¬ 
creasing in population, in wealth or importance. The smoke from her fur¬ 
naces, mills and manufactories is continually rising, and the busy whirl of the 
wheels and clatter of the workmen’s tools are constantly heard on all sides. 
Property is constantly rising in value, and improvements are continually going 
on. The amount of property on the tax duplicate is. now $2,850,000. During 
the year 1870 the city expended on streets over $55,000. There are now being 
erected Water Works on the Holly system, at a cost of $180,000. A gas com¬ 
pany with $40,000 capital supplies gas to all points of the city. Carpenters and 
bricklayers find an increasing demand for their services in the erection of a great 
number of new houses yearly. 

In the city, besides the usual amount of business incident to towns having this 
amount of population, are the establishments of which mention is made 
further on and in detail, which manufacture iron to the aggregate yearly value 
of $2,750,000. There are also transported to her wharf yearly the amount of 
86,000 tons of pig iron for use in her mills and for shipment abroad, the value of 
which is $1,188,000. 

The supplies for nine furnaces pass directly through her streets and from her 
wharf, amounting in the aggregate to $360,000 yearly, besides the vast quantity 
supplied to the surrounding region. 

She is the center of, and the distributing depot for the best and largest part of 
the Hanging Rock iron district. At her wharf the large steamers plying on 
the Ohio between Marietta and Cincinnati, lie the longest, and take on board 
more freight, than at any other port. 

In low water she is the largest town near the head of navigation from 
Cincinnati ujnvard. During the lowest water of the present summer, it was 
very frequently the case, that boats from Cincinnati went up no further than here. 
The town contains two large planing and saw mills, procuring lumber from 
West Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, and the Alleghany river. In connection with 
one is a boat yard where steamboat and barge building are carried on. When 
the building of iron hulls for steamboats is fairly inaugurated, Ironton will pos¬ 
sess the finest facilities for that speciality on the river, the quantity and cheapness 
cl her iron and steel platesythe abundance of excellent timber and the depth of 
her harbor—always deep enough for the largest boats—ofiering the most supe¬ 
rior inducements. 

There are also two large rolling mills, the largest nail mill in the West, a 
large machine shop, one of the largest and best foundries in the Mississippi 
Valley, extensive hoe works, two blast furnaces, boiler yards, R. R. machine 
shops, and a large keg factory, besides the regular amount of the minor manu¬ 
factories that are common to a city and will be found mentioned in the Business 
Directory of the place, while those first mentioned, which are engaged in the 
manufacture of the great staple of the region—Iron—are mentioned more in 
deteil further on. 

Ironton is situated in the most isolated section of the State with regard to 
railroads. The broad Ohio, to be sure, affords an easy and cheap transit for 
her heavy freightage. But re-shipments are necessary in most cases, and be- 
side->, the beautiful river imposes a heavy transit for its advantages, when in 
winter there are weeks when the ice closes navigation, and in summer low 
water causes immeasurable damage to business. 

The building of the eleven miles intervening between the terminus of the Iron 
R. R. and the Portsmouth branch of the M. & C. R. R. would add very many 


OF lEOXTON. 


9 


advantages to tlie place, but the best route would be one to Columbus direct. 

I his wruld open up, not only the great agricultural resources of the inierior of 
the^ State, but also allow of the importation of ore from the northern lakes, 
which is as valuable for admixture with our native limestone ores as that 
from Iron Mountain, Missouri. Furnaces would spring up at once along the 
banks of the Ohio at Ironton, using Ashland or Jackson coal, and native ores, 
and limestones, together with that from the lakes, cheaper than at any other 
point probably in the Mississippi Valley. 

Rolling mills would follow suit, for they could then have the advantage of 
both rail and water shipments. No better place can be found for machine shops 
of the largest and best description, for here is the best iron known for the manu¬ 
facture of machinery. A boat yard for the building of iron hulls would natu¬ 
rally come where could be had, the advantages enumerated above. No better 
point for glass works need be desired, and it is a matter of surprise that some 
nave not been heretofore erected. Wliolesaling can be established here to an 
immense advantage. There are now five wholesale grocery establishments 
doing a business of more than $500,000 annually. Considerable wholesaling is 
also done in clothing, nnd to some extent in dry goods. 

Great advantages would accrue to the city were there wholesale houses here 
in the lines of dry goods, boots and shoes, glass and china ware, and general 
notions. Then merchants from the vicinity would find here the lull comple¬ 
ment of their wants, and buy their entire stock in a short time and in one trip. 
As it now is, country merchants coming here to replenish their shelves, find 
that to finish their stock, they must proceed to Portsmouth, or Cincinnati, to get 
their boots and shoes, and generally their dry goods also. 

Portsmouth with less material advantages than Ironton, furnishes all these, 
and drives a flourishing trade in these several branches, with a large scope of 
territory that Ironton should supply. 

Twenty-two of the furnaces enumerated as in the region under consideration, 
have their own store and supply their workmen and others with provisions, &c. 
Probably $35,000 yearly is a small average for their sales, which would amount 
to $770,000 in the aggregate. Each will consume about 15,000 bushels of corn 
yearly for their teams and for sale. This amounts to 330,000 bushels, which, at 
65 cents per bushel, foots up the yearly aggregate of $214,500. Of these supplies 
the greater part come from Cincinnati—but were opportunity afforded, Ironton 
would sell the greater part. The corn comes principally from the rich Scioto 
valley, by canal to Portsmouth, and by river from there up. A railroad into 
the interior would bring the whole of this to Ironton. This is the largest city 
west of the mountain lying in the line of the Ch. A O. R. R. which strikes the 
Ohio river at Guyandotte some twenty miles above, with an uncertainty for 
the route of its further continuance. To continue this R. R. on the north bank of 
the river to Cincinnati would afford transit for goods from there here, and for 
our manufactured wares to that place, (our principal market,) on one of the 
easie.st of grades, and strike the flourishing tuwns of Ironton and Portsmouth in 
the iron belt with their fine future and rapidly extending business. The con¬ 
struction of such a line to Columbus as indicated, joining at Ironton a river con¬ 
nection of the Chesapeake and Ohio R. R. from Guyandotte to Cincinnati 
would afford the city of Ironton an outlet east, west and north for her wares, 
which would pour over them to all parts of the country, and give them immense 
profits on the carriage, while furnishing full return freights in the various arti¬ 
cles needed to supjily a large manufacturing section situated in a non-agricultu- 
ral region. Now, there seems strong probabilities that the Kentucky and Great 
Ea.stern R. R. may be completed on the southern or Kentucky shore and 
through the Kentucky j)orlion of the Hanging Rock region, and within easy 
reach of Ironton, though the benefit derived therefrom would but indirectly 
accrue to that place. 

VV^e now turn our attention to some of the principal manufactories of Ironton, 
with a few of the leading furnace of the vicinity, which have been described 
somewhat in detail. Resides those here enumerated there is the “Grant” furnace 


10 


THE IROX INDUSTRIES 


of Messrs. Wra. D. Kcllv & Sons, a charcoal hot-blast furnace situated in the 
upper part of the city on the river bank. Also, the large stove foundry of Hears, 
Olhaber & Co., producing about 75 stoves daily of almost every conceivable 
pattern. This was once owned by Messrs. Campbell, Ellison & Co., and 
Woodrow, Hears & Co., and stoves with one of these brands on are to be 
found in all parts of the Mississippi Valley. 


THE IRON RAIL ROAD 

runs from Ironton northward thirteen miles to Center station, in Lawrence 
County, and possesses the privilege of extending its line to the Portsmouth branch 
of the M. & C. K. R. It was incoporated March 7th, 1849. It transports to Iron- 
ton the products of Olive, Center, Mt. Vernon, Howard, Buckhorn, Lawrence, 
Etna, and Vesuvius furnaces, carrying back the supplies for them, and the 
local trade for the surrounding country. During the year ending April 1st, 
1871, it transported 33,495 tons of pig iron, 68,009 tons stone coal, 14,088 tons 
iron ore and limestone, 1,606 tons mill cinder, and 6,233 tons of merchandise, 
making an aggregate of 123,431 tons, with 30,540 passengers, realizing an 
income therefrom of $98,517,67. 


THE IROXTON ROLLING, MILL.-(As Re-organized.) 

The works of this Company are situated in the western part of the city, at 
the,'junction of Storms creek with the Ohio river. They have a front of 264 
feet wharfage, and haul their wares only from the ware-house on the top of the 
bank, to the landing below, a decided advantage when the immense freightage 
of such a large e-stablishment is considered. These works were built in 1852, 
but the present Company was incorporated on the 20th day of January, 1870. 
At that time the works had been lying idle for about two years. Since then the 
energetic officers of the Company have thoroughly repaired the buildings and 
rebuilt the machinery, expending from their profits thereon the sum of $31,000, 
until the mill is now in thorough running order, with many and valuable im¬ 
provements added, and with original faults in construction, wholly remedied, and 
the works are ready for the heavy business that their energy and quality of work 
done, have, in so short a time, built up. These works cover about an entire 
square, and are composed of sixteen puddling, or boiling, and eight heating fur¬ 
naces, with a complement of five trains of rolls, the muck, sheet, bar, guide and 
hoop mills, respectively, and the necessary accompanying shears, hammers, ore 
crushers, blacksmith and pattern shops, and all the paraphernalia for turning out 
all kinds of merchant and bar iron on a large scale. These are driven by en¬ 
gines of a thousand horse power, and their working requires a consumption of 
seventy-two tons of coal daily, on “single turn,’' and one hundred and eight in 
a “double turn,” which is dug on the lands owned by the Ccmpany, and deliv¬ 
ered in the turn at the mill, from the track of the Iron Railroad, at an average 
cost of $1.62^ per ton. In their present capacity, these works are capable of 
turning out daily thirty-five tons of finished iron in “single turn,” and sixty on 
double turn, of twenty distinct varieties and one thousand different sizes. 
Their principal sales are made at their warehouse in Cincinnati, by Mr. D. T. 
Woodrow, their agent, at the corner of Front and Race streets, but also dis¬ 
tributed by orders to the mill directly, to all parts of the Mississippi Valley. 
At present the number of hands upon the pay-rolls of the Company are 150, (be¬ 
sides 75 which are employed and paid by the several employees as “ helpers ” 
to the heaters, rollers, and puddlers,) when running in “single turn,” which, 
when increased to the “ double turn,” as they are obliged to do a great portion 
of the time to keep up to their increasing trade, requires about sixty more. 
These are paid, on single turn, an average of $3,000, per week, on double turn, 


OF lEONTON. 


11 


$4,500. As at present, they run about twenty weeks on single, and thirty on 
double turn, yearly, they pay to their employees the handsome sum of $180,000 
yearly. The success attained by the Company in the past year and a half, since 
they have taken charge of the mill, have determined them on adding to their 
works a large blast furnace, for the production of their own pig iron, a course, 
w'hich, when the immense natural advantages of their situation in this iron belt 
are taken into consideration, will appear as eminently profitable. Besides com¬ 
bining the two profits of smelting, and manufacturing the pig iron, there are many 
others which at first sight might not appear, not the least of which would 
be the ir^mense saving, which now with the most economical management is 
impossible. To enumerate. Under the present battery of boilers in use are 
used yearly some 11,000 tons of coal, costing about $18,000. It is proposed to 
use the gas from the furnace stack, (which the experience of other furnaces has 
shown would be amply sufficient for that purpose) to heat the boilers, not only 
for the use of the furnace as is now the invariable custom, but also for the en¬ 
gines used in driving the machinery for the mill. The idea in not original wdth 
this Company, though it has been applied to but two other mills in the United 
States, one of which is situated in Youngstown, and the other in Steubenville, 
both in Ohio. Here will be a clear saving of $10,000 yearly, the gas thus being 
utilized in.stead of w'asted. Again, in each rolling mill of this capacity, there is 
a waste from the puddling furnaces of what is called “tap cinder,” of an aggre¬ 
gate of at least one hundred tons, per month. This is equal in value to that of 
native ores selling at $4.50 per ton, for which is now realized at a smelting fur¬ 
nace, $1.50. This would be u.sed in their owm furnace only a few feet distant, 
and a clear saving of $300 per month be made on this alone. Again, the site of 
the furnace will be directly on the bank of the river, and wdth only the track of 
the Iron Railroad, between it and the mill, and wdien it is taken into considera¬ 
tion that the coal and ore used will be delivered directly from car and boat into 
the yard, and bins of the furnace, that the iron in the casting house of the fur¬ 
nace will be at no greater distance from the puddling furnaces than under the 
present arrangement, when it is delivered in the stock yard, and that from the 
warehouse for finished iron to the shipping wharf is only a few yards, it will be 
seen that the saving in transportation by hauling in the.se several items, while 
perhaps it can not be exactly e.stimated, must amount to a very considerable sura 
in the course of a year. Add to this the increased economy of management, 
when it is all under the eye of the same executive officers, and the saving of the 
salaries of several employees thereby, and it will be seen that the aggregate of 
these economies must greatly add to the profits, and that dividends must be very 
satisfactory to stock-holders. The advantage of manufacturing their own pig 
iron, and producing whatever qualities are de.sirable for the different grades of 
finished iron,’at will by the admixture of ores in the stack, instead of the sev¬ 
eral qualities of pig iron in the puddling furnace, are obviously great. 

The dimensions of the proposed furnace stack will be about the same as the 
one at Ashland, and the one now' under process of enlargement by the Belfont 
Iron Works of Ironton, and capable of producing an average of forty tons daily, 
making it rank among the very largest in the Mississippi Valley. 

But one of the most distinguishing feature of the Ironton Rolling Mill, is the 
manufacture of .steel by a proce.ss which seems to have gone a great w’ays toward 
solving one of the most difficult problems which the iron-rna.ster has had to 
grapple with, viz; the changing at w'ill of the character of the metal, by the 
introduction of chemicals w’hen the iron is in a melted .state. The process is a 
secret, and the inventor is Mr. Charles Burgess, a young Englishman, who made 
the discov'ery w'hile engaged in the manufacture of .steel by the old method of 
lieating the bar iron in connection w'ith charcoal. His method w'as brought to 
the notice of the Ironton Rolling Mill Co., during the fall of 1870, and at first 
his j)roposition was received most incredulously, as one would naturally expect. 
But his modest confidence in himself led them to permit him to try an experi¬ 
ment in their w'orks with the result of completely vindicating all that he claimed 
for it. 


12 


THE IRON INDUSTRIES 


At once was illustrated the truth of the proverb, that “there is nothing succeeds 
like success,” and the Company soon made permanent arrangements with Mr. 
Rurge'S to continue the manunicture of his steel on a larger scale, and at present 
make it at the rale of about three tons daily, d’he process is known to hut two 
persons Mr. Burgess and Mr. John R. Williams, the Vice-President and 
Superi?itendent of this Company, and it is suthcient to say that the 
process of manufacture differs but slightly from the ordinary process of preparing 
the iron for the rolls. All that it consists in being simply the introduction of 
certain chemiciils into the molten iron, when in the boiling or puddling furnace, 
just before it is ready to undergo the operation of “balling,” preparatory to tak¬ 
ing it from the furnace. Immetliately there is a change takes place in the entire 
chemical character of the metal, and it becomes “si'eef.” It is then taken from 
the furnace and hammered into blooms, ready for rolling into anv desired form 
of merchant steel, plates or bars. This is found to be unequalled for plows, 
wagon tires, boiler plates, boiler flanges and homogenous steel for machine ])ur- 
poses, where perfect welding is required. For bridge building purposes, and for 
boiler plates, at present, and the building of steel hulls for vessels in the (very 
near) future, this steel would be simplv unexcellable. In the manufacture of 
all articles of hardware heretofore made from iron faced with steel, this would 
offer su[)erior advantages, being so much cheaper than ordinary steel, that they 
could be made of one single piece of it, at a decided profit and advantage. 

While this is not claimed to be made for the finer purposes for which foreign 
cast steel is used, there is no doubt it can be made to answer the same purposes. 
In the first experiment for that purpose, made a few weeks since at a cutlery 
establishment in Sheflield, England, from a bar of steel made at these works by 
Mr. Burgess, several sets of fine table cutlery were made, pronounced by the 
skilled workmen of the manufactory to be “A No. 1.” 

Mr. Burgess has certainly great cause of congratulation in thus being able to 
complete in a moment, what, before the invention of Bessemer’s process, the 
world had for generations taken weeks to accomplish. By a certain modification 
of the process the quality of iron in the ordinary manufacture is improved 
greatly, and iron, which went into the puddling furnace “ red short,” and of a 
very inferior quality, comes out tough enough to roll into hoops that are a 
marvel of tenacity and ductility. It is to be hoped that this process may be 
used to solve the difficulties in the making of iron from our native coals, that 
have baffled the attempts of all our iron smelters for so long a time. Certainly 
there is much room to hope for in that re.spect, in view of the chemical wonders 
it has already accomplished. 

The extensive machine shops of Messrs. Lambert & Gordon, known as the 
“ OLIVE FOUNDRY AND MACHINE SHOP,” is at present the only estab¬ 
lishment of the kind in the place. They were erected in 1853 by Messrs. Jas. 
M. Merrill & Co., and employ a capital of $80,000, producing finished work 
of the yearly value of $140,000, consisting of all kinds of steam engines and 
boilers, rolling mill and furnace machinery, including some new and excellent 
patterns for hot-blasts, which have proved very acceptable in actual service in 
the furnaces of this region. The firm employs fifty-eight hands, uses yearly 
8,000 bushels of coal, from their own lands, and manufactures 900 tons of pig- 
iron, procured from the neighboring furnaces, into finished machinery yearly, 
and makes sales of their wares throughout the whole iron belt of this region, and 
along the Ohio river valley, from Marietta to Cincinnati, including those two 
points. The managing proprietor, Mr. Fred. Gordon, is one of the most thor¬ 
ough and practical machinists in the entire West, and when foreman of the Niles 
Works of Cincinnati, constructed the machinery for the famous Missisippi 
steamer, Natchez. He has lately patented a new upright tubular v boiler, which 
is now being manufactured by this firm, and being introduced as its merits lie- 
come known. It has many features essentially important in the manufacture of 
this instrument of death, when improperly managed or constructed, but of life, 
civilization, and advancement, when care is taken in its manufacture and use. 
We have observed the boiler, and find the following points of excellence, 


OF lEONTON. 


13 


which are sure to force it into notice, when it has become known to the public. 
First, it is as nearly non-explosive as any—we say “as any”—since, when steam 
is generated and there is no escape, explosion mn^t occur. This boiler possesses 
a strong circulating property ; the water while steam is being generated, re¬ 
volving through it with great rapidity, thus eliminating the steam without any 
explosive effects. Secondly, the feed water is so introduced, that cold water in¬ 
jected into the boiler will never come in contact with a heated surface, without 
first becoming perfectly mixed with the other water. This feature is by no 
means to be overlooked, inasmuch as many of the leaky boilers we have, both on 
land and water, occur from careless engineers introducing cold water, which in 
the ordinary form of boiler passes along the bottom, the most heated part, and 
produces a .sudden and undue contraction in that line, as it were, when the top 
of the same boiler retains its extended condition. This being done sev’eral times 
will “draw” the holes, and leaky rivets wdll be the result. One other feature is, 
that the arrangement of circulation is such, that any deposits formed, will lodge 
only below the fire line, and then can be blown oft from time to time, without 
any trouble or inconvenience. Upright tubular boilers are, and have been looked 
upon wdth favor, could but one trouble be overcome, that is, the crown sheet has 
invariably been left to the action of the lieated gases wdthout any protection 
from water. In this case, the objection falls to the ground, as it never leaves the 
tubes bare, and even wiien there is a great range in the water line, there can be 
no danger from the flues being burned ; and lastly, the not least important fea¬ 
ture to purchasers, at least, this boiler can be sold as low as any, considering its 
power; viz: for boilers and fixtures complete, $8,00 per foot of heating surface. 

The “SOUTH WESTERN HOE WORKS” were erected in 1804, by 
Messrs. Tyler Bros, & Co., employing twenty-five hands, at average w’ages of 
$4,00 per day, running six grindstones, and four polishers, and producing on 
an average forty dozen of hoes daily, selling for six dollars per dozen. The ar¬ 
ticle produced was an excellent hoe for planter’s use, and had a high reputation 
and extensive sale throughout the southern States, as well as in the more imme¬ 
diate neighborhood. The Messrs. Tylers w'ere excellent mechanics, but exces¬ 
sive importations of cheap hoes from England depressed their prices to .such an 
extent that they were forced to succumb. The works now aw^ait a purcha.ser ; 
and no doubt will prove an excellent investment for him, should he be .so fortu¬ 
nate as to secure the services of the .same mechanic.s, whose skill has given their 
products such a high reputation heretofore. 


THE LAWRENCE IRON WORKS 


are situated in the western part of the city immediately adjoining the Belfont 
nail mill, and are of first-class appointments throughout. The Company was 
incorpor.ated in 1867, by Cyrus Ellison, Esq., and others, with a capital of 
$225,000. Their works compri.^ie sixteen puddling or boiling furnact s, and 
seven heating furnaces, with five trains of rolls, making all kinds of hoo[), guide 
and band irons, and “T” rails for mining railways; their .speciality being in, 
hoop and band iron.s, which they sell throughout tlie entire Missi.ssippi Valley. 
They can manufacture, running on single turn, twenty-five tons daily ; on double 
turn, forty tons, using therefor sixteen and twenty'hundred bu.shels of coal re¬ 
spectively, Avhich is dug on the lands owned by the Company, and delivered by 
the cars of the Iron R. R. These works employ two hundred and fifty hands, 
to whom they pay each pay day $7,000. Their princpal .«ales rooms are in Cin¬ 
cinnati, though they sliip immense quantities on orders directly to the mill. 
Assuming three hundred working days to the year, and we have this mill, when 
running on single turn, producing 7,500 tons of finished iron, worth an aggre¬ 
gate of $750,000, and paying their workmen the sum of $180,000, at "the 
top of their capacity producing 12,000 tons. 


14 


THE IRON INDUSTRIES 


THE BELFONT IRON AYORKS 


are among the leading manufactories of Ironton, and are devoted to the produc¬ 
tion of mils, combining therevvith, the smelting of their own pig iron, a feature 
which, as it secures the double profits of mill and furnace, enables the Company 
to manufacture their goods at a profit where they otherwise would fail of one. 
The Company was organized in 1863, by Messrs. E. M., and G. W. Norton and 
others, with a capital stock of $150,000, since increased to $270,000, in conse¬ 
quence of the addition of a furnace to their works. The shares are $100 each, 
and an excellent feature is the owning of $175,000 worth of it by some thirty of 
the workmen, thus securing a solid interest on their part, in the prosperity of 
the Company, and better work and more of it than could otherwise be the case. 
To begin with their furnace department, which we find situated some half mile 
from the mill, (but connected by the Iron R. R.,) on the bank of the river, in 
order that the ores from Mo., and the native ores used in tlie production of their 
iron, may be more easily delivered from their respective boats, and cars, upon 
tlie stock yards. This furnace was erected in 1868 upon the most approved 
})lans, and in the most workmanlike manner. It is constructed as the Ashland 
furnace, of a stack formed of boiler iron, lined with fire brick, instead of massive 
blocRs of sand stone, as in the older furnaces throughout the remainder of this 
iron region. The result proves its excellence, as it went out of blast in the sum¬ 
mer of 1871, after a “blast” of nearly three years, duration, producing nearly 
25,000 tons of an excellent quality of metal, and when it was stopped, it was not 
from any need of repairing, whatever, but only, in order that there might be an en¬ 
largement of its capacity. When it is recollected, that, generally, a furnace “blows” 
less than a year, when it must be stopped to allow of a new “hearth” being put in, 
tlie advantage of the improved plan is obvious. The former hight of the stack 
was fifty feet, width of “bosh” thirteen feet, using twenty-two tons daily of ore, 
one-half native, and one-half Missouri ore, together with about thirteen tons of 
mill cinder, and producing about twenty-five tons of iron daily, using Player’s 
hot blast and Ashland coal. This stack is now taken down to be enlarged to 
the hight of seventy feet, with a bosh of sixteen feet, and an increased produc¬ 
tion to forty tons daily, in order to furnish the proper supply for the increased 
capacity of the nail mill. The nail mill has fifty nail machines, which have a 
producing capacity of 120,000 kegs of nails yearly, embracing one hundred and 
ten different kinds and sizes, from the largest to the smallest. These are dis¬ 
tributed throughout the entire valley of the Mississippi from the markets of 
Cincinnati, Louisville and St. Louis, where they are mostly shipped. It isgrat- 
ifying to know, that their high character had created such a demand, that in 
spite of full running time being made up to the time of the stoppage of the mill 
in August of this year, they were unable to accumulate a stock at their ware¬ 
house. At the present writing, there is an addition being made to their capac¬ 
ity of thirty machines, making eighty in all, and increasing their production to 
170,000 kegs yearly, employing three hundred hands, to whom are paid yearly 
$250,000 in wages. In the mill are nineteen boiling and three heating furnaces, 
with their complement of rolls to roll the iron into the proper sheets for the 
nail machines. The working of these requires the use of 600,000 bushels of coal 
yearly,which is brought in from the banks of the Company, and delivered by the 
cars of the Iron R. R. The Company also manufacture their own kegs exclusively. 
As an instance of their capability, and an illustration of successful management, 
it is worth mentioning that during the week ending March 10, 1871, these 
works produced on their fifty nail machines, 3,106 kegs of nails, weighing 100 
lbs each, a result, which gives a greater average production to each machine 
tlian any run of the same length yet recorded. Every employee felt, and feels, 
as proud of his share in this triumph, as any of the officers of the Company, and 
announce their intention, should occasion offer, to far excel tbo above result. 


OF IRONTON. 


15 


SHERIDAN COAL WORKS. 

These works are situated on the Ohio river, about seven miles above Iron- 
ton, and the seam worked is about four feet thick, lying near the base of the 
hill. The Company own here about 700 acres of territory, well stocked with 
coal of a superior quality. The works are comparatively new, and employ from 
80 to 90, hands who mine yearly about 800,000 bushels, which is used mostly on 
the river by boats, and in Ironton and the neighboring towns, for domestic 
fufil. The coal has not yet been used in a smelting furnace, but “cokes” 
equal to arly coal in the West, and is equal to any for domestic use. It can 
be delivered at Cincinnati at 8c. per bushel, and in timesof scarcity of coal 
in Cincinnati, like at the present time of writing, it would be found very 
advantageous to have such a source of supply, the more so, if a railroad 
was in successful operation to this point, thus rendering that city independent 
of the fickle river navigation, and comparatively indifierent to the chances 
of a “coal boat rise” at Pittsburg. 

LAWRENCE FURNACE, 


which is probably as nearly the center of the district under consideration 
as any other, is one of the oldest, has been the seat of a thorough experiment 
in smelting with the native coal, and now produces iron on charcoal cold-blast 
inferior to none. This is situated directly on the line of the Iron R. R., ten 
miles north of Ironton. Here are found all the different strata of ore and 
coal of the Hanging Rock belt, and probably in as great profusion as at 
any other point. At the furnace site is found the block-ore, lying some 
fifteen feet above the level of the valley, and averaging ten inches in thick¬ 
ness, being a continuous ledge as unbroken as a vein of limestone. 
Sixty or seventy-five feet above this in the hills lies the limestone 
ore, varying in thickness from ten to thirty-six inches in localities. 
Right above this stratum lies an irregular vein of “kidney ore” in close justa- 
position, possessing the same general qualities but lying in lumps or “kid¬ 
neys,” varying in size from pieces weighing a few pounds to huge boulders of 
half a ton weight. Then in the tops of the hills frequently occurs another 
layer of kidney ore, called the “top hill ore.” Both the grey and red hematite 
varieties of the limestone stratum are worked, producing a yield in the furnace 
of 40 per cent., though an exhaustive analysis would of course show a greater 
yield. The ore is procured by both methods of “stripping” ofi the surface, 
and by “drifting” or regularly mining for it, as in the case of coal, drifting 
being carried on near the furnace stack where lessened cost of r-ransportation 
will balance the greater cost of mining by that method. Within a few 
hundred yards of the stack, drifts have bep carried into the hill, as yet to no 
greater depth than a few yards, where, with the “kidneys” immediately over- 
lying, the vein averages probably about thirty inches in thickness. When it 
is remembered that a vein of ten inches in thickness will yield about 2,800 
tons per acre, it will be easy to calculate the richness of these deposits! Not¬ 
withstanding the furnace has been in successful working since 1834, a con^ 
tinuous period of thirty-seven years, it has been until recently only that it has 
been obtaining its ore by any other method than that of stripping 
the surface from the edges of these successive layers of ore, pro¬ 
ducing only the slightest perceptible effect on the reduction of their 
supply, and as compared to their actual capacity, of the most insignificant 
proportion. Here the hills are between two and three hundred feet 
high, steep and intersected by innumerable ravines, which, while cutting 
off the area of ore-producing surface, afford fine opportunities of 
arriving at the vast quantities in the hills. If we allow that there 


16 


THE IRON INDUSTRIES 


the ore covers but one fourth of the surface, which is probably a moder¬ 
ate estimate, some idea is afforded of the amount of iron it is capable of pro¬ 
ducing. Assuming the ore to lie only ten inches in thickness, on the one-fourth 
of the Go’s 9,700 acres, according to the former computation of 2,800 tons per 
acre, we have a sufficient supply for over 1,100 years production at the rate of 
eight tons of iron daily, their present rate. That this estimate is far under, 
instead of over the actual quantity, will be the opinion of those best ac¬ 
quainted with the mineral wealth of this section. Plere there are two veins of 
coal above the limestone ore, averaging three feet in thickness each, and one 
lying under the block ore of from twelve to twenty-eight inches in thickness 
which are not worked as yet, except for the local use of the furnace people. At 
Vesuvius Tunnel, some three miles south in the line of the road, are situated 
the coal lands of the Ironton, Lawrence and Belfont Rolling Mills, where are 
produced from these two upper veins, the aggregate supplies of 2,000,000 
bushels yearly for the three above mentioned manufactories alone. 

This furnace was built in 1824 as a cold-blast charcoal furnace, and was af¬ 
terwards changed to hot blast, before Mr. John Peters bought the property in 
1869. He conceived the idea of using the native coal for smelting, which 
before that time had never been attempted in this section by any thing bearing 
the shape of actual experiment. Coal was plenty, right at the yards of the fur¬ 
nace. The supply of charcoal, as every one knew, must in a compartively short 
time, fall short of the demand, and the interestof the iron industry demanded a 
fuel that should furnish a greater supply than was to be expected from that source. 
Mr. Peters changed the character of his furnace, put in a larger hot-blast, 
raised the hight of the stack from thirty-eight to fifty-two feet, coal was pro¬ 
cured from the hill immediately adjacent, and coked in the yard of thefur- 
, nace, and the blast was applied in the latter part of May, 1870. There was 
no difficulty in making iron at the rate of twenty tons daily. But the iron 
lacked tenacity, it was almost white in color, seemed mixed with a great 
amount of cinder, and when worked in the boiling furnaces of the rolling 
mills, lost largely in bulk compared with other irons. Then charcoal was 
mixed with the coke in different proportions with improvements in the charac- 
terof the iron but still failingtocome up to the general standard of acceptability 
Wiseacres came, looked and pondered, and went away shaking their heads, 
and saying, “Pm sure it wont work I” About a thousand tons were made. 
The iron market became depressed, the quality was still below the average of 
the best brands, and finally the sulphur and other impurities of the iron con¬ 
quered, and the experiment ceased. The hot-blast was taken down, the fur¬ 
nace lowered again to the former hight, the machinery arranged for cold-blast, 
and the charcoal pits were again smoking along the ravines on the Company’s 
lands. There was no longer any difficulty in making iron. The old routine 
was once more followed, and conservati.^ra in the iron business was satisfied. 
Mr. Peters is of the opinion that the stock of his furnace was only half high 
enough, and that had it been as high as English stacks, which are frequently 
one hundred and more feet in hight, he should have made a success. Still his 
experiment is not without value. Some one will yet discover the proper 
method of eliminating the sulphur from the coals of this region and place mil¬ 
lions at a stroke in the hands of furnace owners in this belt, many of whom— 
in fact nearly all—can dig their coal for a generation yet within a mile of 
their stacks. 

This furnace now makes daily about eight tons of cold-blast charcoal iron 
which commands a special quotation in the best markets of $55,00 per ton. 

It is used mostly for car wheels and kindred uses, where great strength and 
durability of wearing surface is required. At a test made a few months since 
at a car wheal factory, a three feet bar, an inch square, sustained from the 
center a weight of 220 lbs. more than the best brand compared with it. Two 
and a half tons of ore to the consumption of 200 bushels of charcoal make a 
ton of iron. Two hundred hands are employed and considerable ore is sent 


OF IRONTON. 


17 


. to the two furnaces at Ironton from here, besides that required for the regular 
use of the furnace. 


HECLA FURNACE. 


This celebrated furnace is located in the eastern line of the ore-belt, about 
three miles east from Ironton, hauling her iron to that wharf for shipment. 
It was built in 1833, and has always remained a cold-blast charcoal furnace, 
producing at present about eight tons daily of her iron. This has one of the 
highest reputations in the United States, is well known in all markets, com¬ 
manding special quotations at the present of $60.00 per ton. It is used almost 
exclusively for car wheels, and for that purpose probably has no superior in 
the world. During the war it was largely used at the Fort Pitt Foundry, in 
casting ordinance, and some of the heaviest artillery cast there was made from 
Helca iron. The ore used is mostly the red hematite variety of the limestone 
stratum. Under analysis it yieilds about 49 per cent., but under the w'orking 
of the cold blast of the furnace, about 33^ per cent, is extracted. 

It is to this furnace to a great extent that is to be traced the high reputation 
“Hanging Rock Iron” has attained. For twenty years past it has made an iron 
which has been found to be the best in the market for a special use; and that 
use, the making of car wheels, the one demanding the combined qualities of the 
greatest tenacity, with durability of wearing surface in the highest degree. The 
average duration of car wheels made from ordinary irons, as found from care¬ 
fully conducted experiments, is during a run of 80,000 miles. Manufacturer 
u.sing Ilecla iron have no hesitancy in warranting their wheels to last while 
running 200,000 miles. Cei tainly a vast difference. Hitherto the great diffi¬ 
culty has been to find an iron which should combine the two qualities before 
mentioned, each in the highest degree—there being no trouble parlicularly in 
securing either quality alone. Many irons would produce a wheel which 
would “chill” on the outside, so as to give the desired hardness and durability 
of wearing surface; but which, lacking the proper tenacity, and length of fibre, 
w'ould shortly begin to crumble, and little by little, the particles would drop 
away from some weak spot and a hole be found, Avhich would necessitate the 
casting away of a wheel as useless, which was not half worn out. This is fre¬ 
quently found to be the case in Salisbury iron, which has been largely used 
in the manutacture of car wheels. In wheels made from Hecla iron there is no 
such disintegration of the particles, but the wheel remains an entirety until worn 
out. 

These qualities have caused it to be largely sought after, and its reputation 
has even extended to France, where railway companies have held correspondence 
with the present Company, looking toward the introduction on their lines, of car 
wheels made from this iron. 

The ore from which this unexampled product is obtained lies in the triangular 
space embraced between Storms and Big Ice creeks, which empty into the Ohio 
river, the first at Ironton, the second about five miles above the first, thus giving 
this particular belt a river front of live miles, narrowing as it goes back to about 
tATO miles in width. Here are found the grey and red hematite varieties of the 
limestone ore, (as well as the block ore,) possessing some peculiar properties 
which impart to the iron its strength and durability. As this is on the eastern 
line of the ore belt under consideration, the ores lie deeper in the ground, and 
must generally be reached by mining, instead of “stripping.” For fifteen years 
this has been carried on to a greater or less extent at this furnace, and in a much 
more extensive and scientific way than has been done elsewhere in this region. 
Shafts have been sunk to meet the horizontal drifts. The latter are made large 
enough for mules to enter, and draw the loaded cars to the entrance. Ventila¬ 
tion is secured by the proper arrangements of shafts and sidewalls, in order that 
the miner may penetrate to the fullest extent in the search after this precious 
mineral. Here the veins are found from 12 to 20 inches thick, and to increase,, 


18 


THE IRON INDUSTRIES 


rather than diminish in thickness, with the distance underground. Tliere are 
contained in the 14,000 acres belonging to the Company enough ore to supply 
their furnace for indefinite generations to come, while their land will produce 
charcoal sufficient for its consumption. Other f^urnaces through this section have 
attempted the speciality for which Hecla is famous, but although cold-blast 
charcoal iron is produced, the peculiarly distinguishing qualities of Hecla iron 
are not obtained,though it must not be understood that it cannot be,or that Hecla 
alone is capable of supplying this article. The same varieties of ore lie to a consid¬ 
erable extent through the entire region spoken of,and by the same close and scien¬ 
tific attention which Hecla has given to their smelting, similar qualities may be 
attained by a number of other furnaces in this vicinity. 


VESUVIUS. 

This furnace now operated by Messrs. Gray, Amos & Co., is located on Storm’s 
Creek, some eight miles north from Ironton, and two and a half miles from 
the Iron R. R., by which it ships its iron. 

It has been in successful operation since 1833, and is now blowing a “warm- 
blast,” using air at a lower temperature than “hot-blast,” producing an aver¬ 
age daily yield of ten tons of iron with charcoal fuel. This iron is especially 
adapted for use in car wheels, and for chilled rolls, and has consequently at¬ 
tained a very high reputation and a high price, far above the average of 
American iron, selling in the markets of Cincinnati, St. Louis, Louisville and 
Piitslturg at. an average price of $48.00 per ton. There are about 4,500 
acres of land belonging to the furnace, rich in ores—particularly the lime¬ 
stone ores and the red hematite variety, which is principally used in the fur¬ 
nace. The land is well cut by ravines and well watered, (an item of great 
importance in the burning of charcoal and working of furnaces,) the water 
having sulphur, limestone and freestone characteristics. The ore lies in four 
or five different strata, the coal in veins of 36 and 40 inches in thickness and 
easily rained, extending over 500 or 600 acres, and inexhaustable quantities of 
molding sand, lime and sandstone. The amount of ore used to the ton of iron is 
on an average of two and three*forth tons, together with 190 bushels of charcoal 
and two hundred pounds of limestone. One hundred and twenty hands are 
employed, at an average price of $1.60 per day. In 1870 the furnace made 
2,500 tons of iron. The managers are men of liberal enterprise and intelli¬ 
gence in their business, and deserve the success they have won. 


MT. VERNON FURNACE. 

This is a hot-blast charcoal furnace, built in 1854, by R. Hamilton & Co., 
and now owned and operated by Messrs. Hiram Campbell & Sons. The fur¬ 
nace produces an average yield of thirteen tons daily, of an excellent forge 
and foundry iron, commanding the highest market prices for those purposes 
at Ironton, Cincinnati and Louisville. There are 11,000 acres belonging to the 
furnace, underlaid with at le^st two strata of ores, averaging in thickness 
from eight to ten inches each, yielding in the furnace about 43 per cent, of 
iron with a consumption of 140 bushels of charcoal to the ton produced. 
Limestone, fire-clay, building-stone, stone for furnace hearths and molding- 
sand exist on this tract in greater or less quantit’e.s, but mostly undeveloped for 
any except the immediate local wants of the furnace, and to so small an ex¬ 
tent that there are no means of arriving at any comparative statement of 
their abundance. 

Coal also is found in great abundance, of an excellent burning quality for 
general use, but has never been tested for its smelting properties. 


OF IRONTON. 


19 


HOWARD FURNACE. 

This is situated some four miles from the Iron R, R., and seventeen north 
from Ironton, in Scioto Co., though shipping iron and transporting supplies 
on the Iron R. R., and to and from the former place. It was built in 1853 by 
Messrs. Campbell, Woodrow & Co., and is now owned and managed by the 
Charcoal iron Company, President, S. C. Johnson, and with headquarters in 
Ironton. Belonging to this furnace are 7,300 acres, with several strata of ore, 
of what are known as the top-hill, the limestone, running from eight inches to as 
high as seven feet in thickness in a few locations, and three veins of block ore. 
'The furnace being really on the western line of the ore-belt, there are often 
more strata than happen to occur going eastward, the cause being as hereto¬ 
fore stated that on the western line all the strata come to the surface, disap¬ 
pearing below it as they go eastward. Coal and limestone abound, but lack 
development except for local uses. This yields an average of thirteen tons 
daily, (in 1870, 3,016 ton were produced,) mostly “No. 1 Foundry” and 8hi[>- 
ped largely to Pittsburg, Wheeling, Cincinnati, Louisville and Evansville, 
being principally cast into stoves and stove plates. The same Charcoal Iron 
Company own and operate the 


BUCKHORN FURNACE, 

a hot blast charcoal furnace, situated near Howard, on the western line of 
the ore belt, and shipping by the Iron R. R., producing an average daily 
yield of twelve tons of mill and foundry iron, with an aggregate of 2,810 tons 
during the year 1870. Here in practice the ores yield 40 per cent, of iron, 
with the consumption of 170 bushels of charcoal per ton, the limestone ores 
being mostly used. Seventy-five hundred acres of land belong to this fur¬ 
nace, rich in ores, limestone, coal, and sandstone. 

The village of 


HANGING HOCK, 

from which this entire region derives it’s name, lies on the Ohio bank of the 
river, three miles below Ironton. The name was given it from the over-hang¬ 
ing cliff above the town, where the bold front of a huge rock juts from the 
hill, threatening the village below, literally, with a “Hanging Rock.” The 
town is located between the hill and the river, possessing only a narrow foot¬ 
hold in most places and extending along the base of the hill some distance as 
best it may. It was settled shortly after the year 1830, and till the opening 
of the Iron R. R., to Ironton, formed the principal shipping port for the fur¬ 
naces of the Ohio side, gave their products its name, and through them 
named this entire iron belt. For a while it seemed on the highway to great¬ 
ness, but the founding of Ironton in a much more advantageous locality, was 
fatal to those expectations. It now numbers about 800 inhabitants, and con¬ 
tains two foundries, and is the headquarters of Messrs. 


MEANS, KYLE & CO., 

who own and operate Pine Grove and Ohio Furnaces, and the Hanging Rock 
Coal Works. Both of these furnaces are hot-blast charcoal furnaces, yielding 
respectively from 15 to 18 tons, and 17 and 18 tons daily of “No. 1 Foundry” 
iron, and shipped principally to Cincinnati, Pittsburg, and Louisville. 
These have been in operation. Pine Grove since 1829, and Ohio since 1845, 
and are among the very best producing and well managed furnace properties 


20 


T HE IRON INDUSTRIES 


of this region. This firm employs one hundred miners in their coal works, 
and runs a railroad from the river at Hanging Rock, to their coal works and 
to Pine Grove furnace, three and one-third miles in length, over which they 
transported last year 1,000,000 bushels of coal, and 3,000 tons of iron to their 
wharf in Hanging R»ck. This coal is of excellent quality and largely used by 
the boats on the river, and for shipments to Cincinnati, and the production of 
it may be largely increased. 

Here is also the foundry of Messrs. MARTIN, HENDERSON Ss Co., pro¬ 
ducing stoves, fronts and grates, and marbleized iron mantals. The works 
were erected in 1845 by Messrs. Peebles, Wood & Co., and employ a capital 
of $18,000, producing yearly, manufactured wares of the value of $40,000, em¬ 
ploying about thirty workmen, and selling their goods in Ohio, Indiana, 
Kentucky and Virginia. • 


THE EXCELSIOR FOUNDRY 


ofS. B. Hempstead & Co, was erected in 1870, and has already built up a 
large and increasing trade. This foundry makes several new and popular 
styles of wood and coal stoves, all kinds of hollow ware, grates and general 
castings, using Pine Grove and Ohio furnace irons. They are thoroughly 
and newly appointed throughout, and are quite an addition to the businessj 
not only of the village of Hanging Rock, but of the surrounding region also. 


ASHLAND. 


The town of Ashland is on the Kentucky shore of the Ohio river, abont 
four miles above Ironlon, and occupies a beautiful site, with abundance of 
room for the expansion into the large manufacturing town it is destined to be. 
It was laid out in 1854, by the “Kentucky Iron, Coal and Manufacturing 
Co.,” and from its situation is the center of a vast business in the Kentucky 
subdivision of the Hanging Rock region. The Lexington & Big Sandy R. R. 
Co., Eastern Division, runs from this point to Rush Station, 17 miles back 
from the river and brings to the river and to Ashland all the coal from the 
Coalton banks, which supplies the Ashland and Belfont furnaces, the rolling 
mills in Portsmouth, and the vast amount they ship to Cincinnati and else¬ 
where, the iron from Star, Mount Savage, and Buena Vista furnaces, 
and the produce from a large scope of country, and conveys back in return 
great quanitities of goods for the country in its vicinity, in which there are 
ten stores, in a radius of twenty miles from Ashland, whose sales run from 
$40,000 to $150,000 each yearly. The trade of the place requires a bank 
with a capital of $300,000, which will indicate to some extent the amount of 
business done in its neighborhood. The town numbers now about 2,000 in¬ 
habitants, has in its boundaries the large Ashland furnace, producing it’s 
thousand tons of iron monthly, the R. R. machine shops, large flouring mill, 
planing and saw mill, where several boats and barges have been built, besides 
the usual complement ofstores and minor establishments to be found in such 
towns. The harbor of Ashland is one of the beat along the entire course of 
the Ohio river, for three miles along the front of the town averaging 20 feet 
in depth the year round, and furnishing the best location for dry docks, now 
unoccupied between Cincinnati and Pittsburg. In the building of iron hulls 
for steamboats, no better locility can be found. Timber is here easily and 
cheaply procured from the immediate neighborhood, and from the Big Sandy 
and Guyandotte rivers, immediately above here. 


OF IRONTON. 


21 


Ashland is the terminus, and the headquarters, of 

THE LEXINGTON AND BIG SANDY E. E. CO., EAST- 

EEN DIVISION. 

This compan 7 is the wealthiest corporation in the Ashland section, and 
employs a large capital, and a great number of hands in developing the re* 
sources of Ashland and vicinity. It was incorporated in 1854, with a capital 
stock of $1,440,000, and now owns and operates the railroad running back 
seventeen miles to Rush Station, though the road has been designed to run to 
Lexington, and without doubt will soon be pushed out further into the inte¬ 
rior, more especially should the Chesapeake & Ohio R. R. make their proposed 
road from Huntington, through the rich mineral region in the interior, to the 
right of Lexington, where mineral riches incalculable await only an opportu¬ 
nity for development. At present the road transport the iron from Mt. Sav¬ 
age, Star, and Buena Vista furnaces besides the native ore used in the Ash¬ 
land furnace, and whatever there may be for exportation. During the year 
1870 the road carried 6,000 tons of ore, 1,325 tons of limestone, 125,000 tons 
of coal, and 14,558 passengers. 

In their 


COAL WORKS DEPARTMENT, 

they own 9,000 acres of land, exceedingly rich in ores of the finest quality, 
besides vasts deposits of coal known as the “Ashland coal,” which is the only 
vein of supplying coal for smelting purposes in this immediate section. It is 
used in the Ashland furnace, the Belfont of Ironton, and is supplied to the 
rolling mills of Portsmouth and Cincinnati, and large quantities are used by 
the boats of the Ohio river passing Ashland, and again large shipments are 
made to the Cincinnati market for ordinary domestic use. For smelting in 
the raw state, and for a grate coal there is no superior. The following is the 
analysis as furnished by the company. Specific gravity 1.282; coke 57.40; 
sulphur 0.19; ashes 1.88; carbon 84.08; hydroesjn 4,92; oxygen 9.12. 

The coal works of the company are situated at Coalton, some thirteen miles 
back from the river on the waters of William’s creek. Here the Company 
employ three hundred and fifty liands in mining, who deliver annually 
into the cars of the Company some 3,000,000 bushels, and receiving for 
their labor the aggregate sum of $200,000 therefor. The supplies necessary 
for the consumption of this body of laborers, and the wants of the company, 
are drawn principally from Pittsburg, Cincinnati, and Portsmouth. It is 
gratifying to know that the trade of the company is rapidly increasing. From 
Coalton, coal fully equal to the best Pittsburg article, can be mined at equal 
cost, and shipped from the best harbor between that city and Cincinnati, at 
times when Pittsburg is quite inaccessible. At the present writing only the 
smallest of even light draught boats can pass above the mouth of the Big 
Sandy at Catlettsburg, five miles above Ashland, and though this is a season 
of unexceptionally low water, Ashland furnishes a harbor deep enough for 
the very largest boats on the Ohio, with ample accommodations for fleets of 
coal boats. The vein from which their coal is procured, underlies a great 
portion of the country, and is about four feet in thickness, at Coalton lying 
some sixty feet above the bed of the railroad. Forty feet above this vein lies 
another seam from four and a half, to six feet in thickness, also of first 
class quality. The immense quantity of coal contained in the immediate 
neighborhood, its excellent qualities, and the ease and cheapness with which 
it may be mined, leads to a feeling of surprise that there are not more com- 


22 


THE lEON INDUSTRIES. 


panies engaged in developing the coal trade from Ashland to Cincinnati, 
especially when it is considered that it is situated at less than one-third of 
the distance from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh. 


ASHLAND FULNACE. 

This immense furnace was built in 1869, by the Lexington Big Sandy R. 
R., Eastern Division, and at the time of its erection was said to have the largest 
stack west of the Alleghany mountains being capable of producing an aver¬ 
age of forty tons daily, or about one thousand tons per month. To the honor 
of the managers be it said, their huge stack sets a landable example to the rest 
of the region, by ‘ keeping Sunday,” completely disproving by the results, the 
oft repeated assertions of iron-matsers, that it was impossible to run a blast 
furnace successfully, when stopping one day in seven. This furnace uses stone 
coal from the celebrated Ashland vein at Coalton, on the lands of the railroad 
company, using from 100 to 120 tons of it daily, together with from 60 to 75 
tons of ore, two-thirds of which is Missiouri ore, brought to the furnace land¬ 
ing in boats, the balance native ore, from the lands of the Company, near 
Ooalton, fluxed by from 15 to 20 tons of native limestone, producing a good 
quality of mill iron which is sold at the wharf of the furnace, for a present 
market price of $31 and $32 per ton, and sent mostly to the Ironton Rolling 
Mills, to Cincinnati and New Albany, for railroad iron and ordinary mill 
purposes. The success of this furnace has led the Company to consider the 
propriety of building additional furnaces, which will probably soon be done, 
more especially, since the proposed building of the Kentucky and Great Eastern 
R. R., which will, if completed, pass directly through Ashland. 


IRONTON BOARD OF TRADE. 


E. BIXBY, President. 


First Vice President. 

.T. N. DAVEY. 

Second 

a 

li 

.M. S. BARTRAM. 

Third 

a 

u 

.D. R. WOLFE. 

'^Fourth 

a 

a 

.J. T. DA^VIS. 

Fifth 

a 

a 

.V. NEWMAN. 

Sixth 

t< 

a 

.A. WINTERS.* 



Secretary. 

.H. B. WILSON. 



Treasurer. 



Correspondence with business men throughout the country solicited. 


ADDRESS, 

H. B. WILSON, 

Secretary Board of Trade, 

IROKTOK, Ohio. 


PROMINENT BUSINESS HOUSES OF IRONTON. 


Agents—Insurance. 

C. W. Witman, cor. Second and R. R. streets. 

C. B. Egerton, cor. Second and R. R. streets. 

J. Shaw, cor. Second and Center streets. 

Mather & Wilson, Second National Bank. 

Attorneys. 

Ralph Leete, Second street, near Center street, 

\Vm. Forgey, Enterprise Block, Second street. 

W. S. McCune, cor. Railroad and Second streets. 

Ezra V. Dean, Center Block, Second street. 

John S. George, cor. Railroad and Second streets. 

W. H. Enochs, Roger’s Block, cor. Railroad and Second streets 
B. H. Garvey, Center Block, cor. Center and Second streets, 
John Hamilton, Enterprise Block, Second street. 

J. L. Anderson, Center street, near Second street. 














24 


BUSINESS REGISTER 


Attorneys—Continued. 

O. S. Collier, Center Block, Second street. 

Neal & Cherrington, Enterprise Block, cor. Center and Second street. 

A. B. Cole, Enterprise Block, Second street. 

Elijus Nigh, Center, near Second street. 

Albert Lawson, Second street. Center street. 

Banks. 

First National Bank, cor. Second and Railroad streets. 

Second National Bank, Roger’s Block, cor. Second and Railroad streets. 
\Vm. D. Kelly, Second street, near Railroad. 

Book-Binding. 

Dunne & Dempsey, No. 10 E. Second street, Dempsey’s Block. 

Books and Stationery. 

Dunne & Dempsey, No. 10 E. Second street, Dempsey’s Block. 

J. & M. Davidson, No. 5 Roger’s Block, Second street. 

Boots and Shoes. 

Thos. McCarthy, No. 6 Union Block, Second street 
R. & H. Go ft, cor. Fourth and Railroad streets 
John Simon, No. 9 Enterprise Block, Second street. 

Builder. 

Wm. E. R. Kemp, Vernon, between Third and Fourth street. 

Boiler Makers. 

Hastings & Cricher, Front street, near Buckhorn 

Clothing. 

B. F. Ellsberry, Second, between Lawrence and Buckhorn. 

Geo. Newberger, No. 5 Union Block, Second street. 

Henry Dettmar, No. 11 Enterprise Block, Second street. 

Kaufman & Co., Center Block, Second street. 

Confectioners, 

Wm. Gonder, cor. Third and Center streets. 

Jas. Levering, cor. Second and Buckhorn streets. 

Jacob Ensinger, cor. Second and Olive streets. 

.1. Matthews & Bro., Second, between Lawrence and Buckhorn streets. 

Druggists. 

Rail and Winters, cor. Second and Railroad. 

Bartram & Peters, cor. Second and Center streets. 

Dry Goods. 

.Jas. Small, Center Block, Second street. 

J. T. Davis, cor. Second and Lawrence streets. 

H. Clark, No. 4 East Second street. 


OF IRONTON. 


25 


Dry Gccds—Continued. 

D. W. Richards, No. 7 Union Block, Second street. 

Mrs. E. Ward & Co., Center Block, Second street. 

S. Ward & Son, Center Block, Second street. 

Gilfillan & Mayberry, Roger’s Block, Second street. 

Furnace?, (P. 0, Ironton.) 

BELFONT—Belfont Iron Works Co. 

GRANT—Wm. D. Kelly &Sons. 

CENTER—Wm. D. Kelly & Sons. ^ 

HECLA—Hecla Iron and Mining Co. 

MONITOR—Monitor Furnace Co. 

VESUVIUS—Gray, Amos & Co. 

.UTNA—Ellison, Dempsey & Ellison. 

LAWRENCE—Lawrence Furnace Co. 

MT. VERNON—II. Campbell. 

OLIVE—Campbell, McGugin & Co. 

BUCKHORN—Charcoal Iron Co. 

HOWARD—Charcoal Iron Co. 

Forwardin{i and Commhsion L'erchants. 

W. G. Biadford, Lower Wharf-boat. 

M. A. McLaughlin, Upper Wharf-boat. 

Furniture. 

D. Nixon, cor. Third and Railroad. 

P. Herbert, No. 8 East Second street. 

Groceries—Wholesale. 

Dempsey, McQuigg & Dempsey, No. 12 East Second street. 

Clark & Clarke, No. 7, Commercial Block, Second street. 

D. S. Murdock & Son, cor. Second and Lawrence streets. 

D. T. Davis, cor. Second and Lawrence streets. 

E. Ferguson, cor. Second and Olive streets. 

Groceries—Eetail. 

D. T. Miles, cor. Lawrence and Second streets. 

D. T. Davis, cor. Second and Lawrence streets. 

E. Ferguson, cor. Second and Olive streets. 

Winters & Bro., cor. Third and R. R. 

Jas. Levering, cor. Second and Buckhorn streets. 

.lohn Matthews & Bro., Second between Lawrence & Buckhorn streets. 
I. B. Murdock, Second street, West of Ironton. 

Hardware, Etc. 

John A. Witman & Co., Second street, below R. R. 

T. N. Davey, cor. Center and Second street. 

Harness and Saddlery. 

W. & J. Nixon, cor. Third and R. R. 

V. Boll & Co., cor. Second and Center streets. 


26 


BUSINESS REGISTER. 


Hats and Caps. 

D. W. Richards, No. 7, Union Block, Second street. 
Joseph Lloyds, Second near Biickhorn streets. 
Kaufman & Co., Center Block, near Center street. 

B. F. Ellsberry, Second near Lawrence street. 

R. & 11. Goff, cor R. R. and Fourth street. 

Hotels. 

Sheridan House, cor. R. R. and Front street. 

Ironton House, Ffont street near Landing. 

Lumber Merchants. 

M. Wise & Co., Front street. 

Newman & Co., Front street, foot of Jefferson street. 

Machine Works. 

Lambert & Gordon, cor. Second and Hecla streets. 

Millinery and Fancy Goods. 

!Mrs. J. M. Brown, cor. R. R. and Fourth street. 

Mrs. E. Wheatcratt, Center near Third street. 

Nail Mills. 

Belfont Iron Works, cor. Second and Etna streets. 

Newspapers. 

Ironton Journal, cor. R. R. and Second street. 

Ironton Register, Roger’s Block, Second street. 

Photographer. 

Colville & Peters, Enterprise Block, Second street. 

L. L. Hitt, Third near R. R. 

Printing. 

L. P. Ort, Plain and Ornamental Printing, Ironton, O. 
Journal Office, R. R. and Second street. 

Register Office, Roger’s Block, Second street. 

Queonsware. 

Wm. Gruneberg, Second street, near Lawrence. 

Rolling Mills. 

Ironton R. M. Co., Front street, foot of Second street. 
Lawrence Iron Works, Second and Vesuvius street. 

Stoves, Tin Ware, Etc. 

R. B. Hamilton & Co., R. R. near Third street. 

J. C. ^McGugin, Second near Lawrence street. 

J. A. W’^itman, Second near R. R. 

Watchmakers and Jewelers. 

Geo. Lampman, Second near R. R. 

E. Bixby, Roger’s Block, Second street. 


CYRUS ELLISON, Pres. GEO. H. FISHER, Gon’l Siip’t. WM. L. KEEPERS, Sec. & Treas. 



MANUFACTURERS OF 


Bar, Band & Eclipse Hoop Iron, Small T Bails, &c. 

iK^orvToiv, OHIO. 

Cincinnati Warehouse, 16 and 17 Fiiblic Landing. 
Louisville Warehouse, 109 Main Street. 


Slieridaii Miiiiiig O©. 

(P. 0. Sheridan Coal Works, Lawrence Co., 0.) 

Can supply the River Trade with a superior Article of 
Bituminous Coal in any quantity required. 

J. H. MOULTON, Secretary. ELIAS NI&H, President. 


MEANS, KYLE & CO., 

PROPRIETORS OF 


Pine drove Furnace, Ohio Furnace, 

Saagtag MsgM ©eal 

Manufacturers of Superior Hot Blast Pig Iron. 

MINERS OF 00.11 AND FIRE OLAY, 

HA-NGING KOCK, O. 






































E. M. NORTON, L. T. DEAN, EDW. B. NORTON, B. H. BURR, 


President. V. President. 


Secretary. 


Treasurer. 


ILFOITT mOlT WORKS CO., 

(NOllTON BUG’S., late of Wheeling,) 


MANUFACTURERS OF 

BITOMMSWI 




Casing, Lathing, Fencing, Barrel, Wrought, 
Tobacco and Blued Nails, 


CUT AND WROUGHT NAILS, SPIKES, &C., 

ouzo. 





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a 

DEALER IN 





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Till, Copper and Sheet Iron Ware, 


SECOND STllEET, 


lUONTON, OHIO. 


Particular attention paid to all kinds of Job Work, such as Guttering, Roof¬ 
ing, Spouting and Repairing. 


I f ',yjijagi5Sig I 


NEAV BOOK & MUSIC STOBE. 


Bofltssllers, Stationers anl Blani Bool Mannfactnrers. 

Book Binding in all its branches made a specialty. 

Sheet Music and a full line of Musical Instruments 
constantly Icept on hand, including the 

I Celebrated Weber and Schraidt & Schmidt Pianos. 

Also, the Celebrated Mason & Hamlin’s Cabinet Organs. 

Engravings, Pictures, "Wall Paper, Window Curtains, Looking Glasses, 
and all kinds of Frames made to order. 

School Books and School Burniture of all kinds on hand. 

Ifo. 10 East Second St., IROJ^TOM, 0. 



















WILLIAM FORGEY, 
Attorney and Counsellor at Law, 

Collecting and all Legal Business promptly attended to. 
Office, Enterprise Block, Second St., 

O. 


T. B. BALL. AARON WINTERS. 



Wholesale, Retail and Manufacturing 


DKXJG-GMSTS, 

Corner Second and Railroad Streets, 

IRON TON, OHIO. 

Dealers in Paints, Oils of all kinds and Window Glass. 

IRONTON BOOK STORE. 
J. & M. DAVIDSON, 

WHOLESALE & RETAIL DEALERS IX 

BOOKS, STATIONERY & GENERAL VARIETIES, 

Engravings and Pictures, Wall Paper, Window 
Curtains, Looking Glasses, Frames, &c., 

No. 6 SECOND STREET, ROGERS BLOCK, IROWTOM", O. 



NBAK TUB STEAMBOAT LANDING, 


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$2,00 FEB FAl 


* 


A. J. BELL, Prop’r. 













Attorney & Counsellor at Law, 

NOTARY PUBLIC AND CONVEYANCER, 

OFFICE, Second Street, near Center. 

Coliectioiis aud all Legal Business promptly attended to. 

P. O. Address, TjOcJc Box 1. 

ZK.OITTO:]^, OHIO. 


Til© Ii?©ii.t©n 

A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER, 

Devoted to the current news of the day, and the manufacturing and other in¬ 
terests of Ironton and Lawrence County. 

The Journal has the fullest facilities for Job Work, and the largest circula¬ 
tion between Marietta and Cincinnati. 

Ba-STEAMBOAT WORK MADE A SPECIALTY.*^ 

•jTESiEtaa:®, ^2.00 

JOHN COMBS, Editor and Proprietor, 

OFFICE, Cor. Second and E. E. Sts., O. 


Tlie Reerister, 


A WEEKLY PAPER, 

Devoted to Literature, News, Politics, Iron Matters, and the general interests of 
Lawrence County, Ohio. 

S2.OO IPIEDB 

EDWARD S. WILSON, Publisher and Proprietor, 

OFFICE, Center Block, Second Street, SBtOIfTOIT, O. 

J0I5 WORK NEATLY AND PROMPTLY EXECUTED, 


J. A. WITMATT & CO., 

DEALERS IN 



Mechanics’ Tools S, Farmers’ Implements, 

Stoves, Grates, Tinware, Window Glass, Oils, Paints, &c,, 

SEOOKD STREET, below Railroad, lE^OITTOIT, O. 














PIONEER OF THE LINE! 

BEOULAR SE3II-WEEKLY PACKET, 

For PORTSMOUTH, IROIS TON, 0ALLIPOLIS & POMEROY. 

THE MAGNIFICENT PASSENGER STEAMER 

OHIO Ho. 4 . 

F. 7. BACHELOR, Master. CHARLES RECINER, Cleri. 


Leaves Cincinnati for Pomeroy every Monday and Thursday, at 6 P. M. 
Leaves Pomeroy for Cincinnati every Saturday at 2 P. M., and Wednesday at 
7 A. M. Freight and Passengers receipted to all points West and Northwest. 



OIF ii^oi^TOisr, o. 

CAPITAL, $100,000. SURPLUS, $41,000. 


DIRECTORS. 

Thos. W. Means. W. W. Johnson. C. Ellison. N. K. Moxley. Sam’l Richards. 
J. T. Daris. D. S. Murdock. J. Davidson. Stephen Dillon. 

Prompt attention given to Colleotions. 

Remittances made at the lowest rates of Exchange. 
o:F':F'Io:BE^s. 

Thos. W. Means, President, W. W. Johnson, Vice President, R. Mather, Cashier. 

T. A. DEMPSEY. W. T. McQUIGG. A. T. DEMPSEY. 

Dempsey, McQuigg & Dempsey, 
WHOLESALE GROCERS, 

No. 12 EAST SECOND STREET, DEMPSEY'S BLOCK, 
IBOJSTOJS, OHIO. 

@tl 

"W. G. 

Receivifli & Fon arflii lerclait, M Gea’l Steauilioat Aieat, 

DEALER IN HAY, ALL KINDS OF GRAIN, See. 

Proprietor of Loiver Wharf Boat, IliONTON, O. 

EDWARD LAWTON. J. E. LAWTON. D. II. LAWTON. 

E. LAWTON Sl SONS, 

Vernon St., near Fifth, IKONTON, OHIO. 














Traber ^ 

Oommission Merchants. 

AGENTS FOR THE SALE OF 

FIG IRON & BLOOMS, 
FIRE BRICK & BELFONT NAILS, 

^os, 5 and 7 Viiblic Landing, 

OIIVOIIVIVATI^ O. 


WM. MEANS, Pres, and Treas. A. McCULLOUGEI, V. Pres. A. CAMPBELL, Sec. 


HEOLA IROM A!^Q MINING 00, 

manufacturers of the Celebrated 





P. 0. IRONTON, OHIO. 



President's Address; Wm. Means, Nos. 145 ^ 147 Walnut St., CINCINNATI, 0. 


JOHN CAMPBELL. 


W. N. McGUGIN. 


S. M. McGUGIN. 


©lilT® fUElTA©!! 

Campbell, McGugiii & Co., 

Proprietors and Manufacturers of 

Superior S®l Hast I 

FROM PURE LIMESTONE ORE. 

P. O. IROJXTOrST;, OHIO. 


5 





IL,. 

PLAIN AND ORNAMENTAL PRINTER, 
moisTTOisr, opiio. 








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General Iron Merchant. 

Merchant Bar, Band, Hoop and Sheet Ii:on, Boiler . 
- Heads, Flange Plate and Boiler Iron, Car and 
^ Bt'idge Iron, Burgess Plow Steel, 

^ Steer Tire, Spring, Blister, 

and Lay Steel, 

FBOM THE 


IRONTON ROLLING MILL CO. 


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:e=z c 3- iz^oi<r 

FROM 

BUCKHORN, 

HOWARD, ' 

MT. VERNON, 

LAUREL, 

BUFFALO, , 

s * 

And other Furnaces in the Hanging Rock Iron 
Region. ' _ 

DEALER IN 


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•WAAZe/EZZOTJSIES: 

. 101,103 & 105 West Front, and 16 Race Streets, 

©SI®. 




My facilities are sucli as enables me to contract favorallly where large lots, 
prompt delivery, and fair rates are items. 

























RoB'r. SCOTT, 

rn siJoiit. 


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JclIN H. \V 1 LL 1 AM>, DAN’L H. VVoLFK, 

Vici' uii'l Scc’y arnl Ti'-asunT. 

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BAR, BAND, HOOP,SHEETS, BOILER PLATE, 

ANGLE, RAILROAD SPLICE BAR AND BRIDGE IRON, 
agoB; SqXj Mqw Slaljg aa4 WlagSt 
©- 0 ie t ® sf I ® 1 j. .& o. 

Having thoroughly repaired the above extensive 

mm AEB STOSI. W@EKE.. 

And introdueed XeAv and IinjLioved Machinery, every dej)artnient is now in the 
most j)ericel working order, and being in }»raetieal operation, we are 

Executing Orders with unusual Promptness. 

Our Iron being Il<im ntered^ your attention is particularly invited to its 

SIPEKIOR (il ALITY AND FINISH. 

OXJK. Y; 

Steel Plate, Slab and' Witign cut into all shapes, Steel Tire 
of any size and length, Homogeneous Steel of \ 

any size of ba r ordered. 

ZJorse Slice 13ar and lioop Iron. 

We warrant our “ Laurel ” Brand of either to be iinequaled. 

CHARCOAL BAR. 

In tliis we challenge competition.—Made to order in any size of the Merchant 

Bar, Plate, or Sheet Trade. 


SPECIAL ATTENTION G VEN TO ORDERS. 


-AIDIDIRIE3S: 

(AS HEOEOANIZEI),) 

IROZVTOIN, OHIO. 

Or9 D. T. WOODROW, cor. Front d' Race Streets, 
axisraxisrizTji^Tx, oxxxo. 

















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